


(A)Romance: A Love Story

by Samsara



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alien Oikawa, Aroflux Character, Aromantic, Astrology, Dating Services, Falling In Love, Gray Aromantic Character, M/M, Magical Bond, Magical Boys, Modern Fantasy, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 01:05:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6174007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samsara/pseuds/Samsara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akaashi Keiji is gray-aromantic, but he's often wondered how it would feel to fall in love with someone. Of course he quickly shoves the idea out of his head because it sounds pretty much. . .</p><p>Terrible.</p><p>So when Akaashi finds a strange business card, seeming to be advertising a strange relationship-psychic hotline, he decides to call it, only to discover it's a soulmate hiring service. As far as he's concerned he's been on the aromantic spectrum his entire life.</p><p>So how is it that he's suddenly head over heels in love? All he knows is that he can't decide if it's disgusting, or if he wants more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(A)Romance: A Love Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crackpairingprincess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crackpairingprincess/gifts).



> HAPPY HAIKYUU RAREPAIR EXCHANGE!!!!!  
> So if some of y'all were wondering why my other fics haven't been getting written? This is why. I've been trying to write this and I've been a little bit too overwhelmed to get more than the beginning done. But I will be making this multi-chapter (foreseeing about 5 or 6 chapters documenting this story). 
> 
> Anyways! This is going to [crackpairingprincess](http://crackpairingprincess.tumblr.com) on Tumblr as part of the exchange! I won't be posting the link for this fic up on Tumblr until the last day of the exchange but tada!
> 
> Now a couple notes: I am gray-aromantic myself so I channeled a lot of my ???!!! on Akaashi in this fic, so it's been kind of fun to do that. So I hope my recipient enjoys this! I'm usually really bad with soulmate AUs but I had this idea and wanted to run with the idea of "What if an aromantic person suddenly hired a soulmate and wound up falling in love?" And I thought it was kind of funny as an aro-spectrum person myself.
> 
> Second is: I have it listed in my tags as "alien Oikawa" and well. He's sort of an alien. Don't worry, I'll explain soon. He's not human.
> 
> Third: This is in fact separate from HQ entirely. Sorry, no sports involved.
> 
> ANYWAYS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS PRINCESS, AND I HOPE MY OTHER READERS DO TOO!!!

As far as he knows, the term is called “aromantic.” But he’s not quite sure it suits him entirely. Lacking romantic attraction is close, but it’s not quite hitting the nail on the head. He’s sure that perhaps, one day, somehow, he’ll love someone but. He’s positive he wouldn’t mind if he never did. It seemed to be so troublesome and more effort than it was worth, so Akaashi was quite content with never committing himself to another person. It allowed him to focus on himself, even though it might have appeared selfish.

 

He supposed he wouldn’t have minded loving someone, but it always seemed so troublesome. Emotions so strong that you become obsessed and preoccupied with another person? It was hard to comprehend, and yet it sounded almost exciting. But wouldn’t it become distracting? Why would people willingly allow themselves to become so overwhelmed with another human being that they became distracted from work? Hobbies? Everything? It sounded incredibly annoying. All around him, Akaashi paid attention to people he knew getting into relationships, falling in love, a few had even gotten married now that they were all in their twenties, but none of it really sounded appealing. PDA bothered him, so did romance movies and subplots. He would never have called him repulsed by romance, but it certainly was not among his favorite concepts.

 

Akaashi sighed as he bobbed and weaved through the crowds of people on the street, heading to his small apartment on his way home from class. He was living a life of routine and the path home never seemed to be varied unless he happened to want to stop for a coffee. But his funds for the month were tight, he couldn’t afford to stop for an overpriced latte when he could easily make something similar at home. It was troublesome, moving through the dozens and dozens of people on the crowded street, all of whom had just gotten off the same train as Akaashi. It was inconvenient and he supposed as he bobbed and weaved, that maybe if he grabbed himself that latte, the crowds might disperse by the time he nabbed it. One of the cafes was coming up and he only had a second to decide if he was going to hide out for a bit. Fingers reached out and clasped around the handle, the door swinging open, allowing Akaashi to take some refuge inside.

 

It was still busy within the cafe’s walls but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the streets were outside. It was that mid-afternoon rush where all the students were either heading home from morning and afternoon classes, or heading to evening classes instead. So it was busy as usual. Akaashi meandered into the line and pulled out his phone to check through messages. A few messages from classmates asking if anyone had taken good notes from various lectures to which Akaashi replied with saying he would make copies of his notes for 1000Y a lesson. He was studious and quite skilled at taking thorough and complete notes, and it had been the reason why he was able to afford a couple luxuries now and then. A reply came through, a request for the entire unit thus far -- a total of twelve lessons, and therefore 12000Y. Nice. -- and Akaashi complied, asking for payment the following morning.

 

It was how he was able to get by only working a part time job while attending school. His part time job went to savings while his personal expenses came from the several thousand yen he raked in every semester by writing notes that were worthy of being sold. It was why he could afford getting himself a latte now and then. Or several times a week rather. As he made his way to the front of the line, he placed his order: vanilla bean latte with almond milk and an extra shot. He was feeling sluggish today so he felt it was needed to get the extra burst of energy. Akaashi took the time he needed to wait to take his things to a table located near one of the corner windows. He might as well take out his computer and edit his notes for this classmate of his and get them ready to be printed. But as he began to sat down, Akaashi’s eyes found themselves drawn to a small piece of paper, clipped in the table’s plastic advertisement.

 

Plucking the card from the old, suspecting it might be an ad for a local band or even a cafe special, Akaashi’s lips formed into a thin smirk as his dark eyes read over the raise ink. It was a rather plainly designed card, with some gold leaf loops drawn around the corners.

 

“For a Good Time Call,” he said aloud, holding his spare hand to his mouth to politely stifle his laughter. “Not that kind of service. Funny. I wonder what it is.” He said as he decided to pocket the business card, deciding that maybe if his curiosity got the best of him he might call the number to find out just what sort of business it was.

 

After his drink was called, Akaashi found himself quite content to stay in the cafe for a while and work on some of his note editing as well as some homework -- he had a paper due in a few days that it was clearly time to get started on. Of course, as things typically went for Akaashi Keiji, time got the better of him and before he realized it, it was past seven in the evening and soon, the next wave of students would be collecting on the streets and he would be in the same position as before and he’d need to wait it out once again. Hastily, Akaashi packed up his things and left the cafe, deciding he’d have to make a b-line for home if he wanted to avoid the crowds once more.

 

Akaashi’s apartment was close to a dormitory, although not quite. It was a series of apartments reserved for local university students, almost exclusively studio apartments. There were a few suite style apartments that were available for students who wanted to live with roommates. But Akaashi was a typically solitary person and he didn’t want to seek out another person to live with. As Akaashi entered the lower level of the apartment building, set up much like a common room with a front desk and several televisions and couches along with other recreational activities, he received waves and greetings from some of the other twenty-somethings relaxing downstairs. Had it been any other night, Akaashi would be willing to spend some time simply listening to their discussions but he’d already exhausted himself for the day and was much more prepared to head to his own apartment for the evening.

 

His apartment was simple. It was primarily one room, with a bathroom off to the side, small enough for one person, perhaps two if they didn’t mind getting close. And contrary to what most people suspected of Akaashi, the entire place was a mess. His laundry lay scattered around the floor and several dishes were piled upon, as well as takeout boxes and empty ramen cups decorating the counters of the kitchen. While Akaashi was impeccably organized with his coursework, his living space was a mess. Seeing the cluttered space, Akaashi sighed, carrying his bag over to the couch which remained just as messy -- the previous days clothes, as well as a towel and some of his extra blankets remained draped upon it. He’d open the couch -- which was more of a futon -- later that night when he was ready to go to sleep.

 

Clearing a space on the coffee table amidst the cups and used chopsticks and other notebooks, Akaashi set his laptop back out before sinking into the couch. But as he sat he felt something poking from his pocket, only to remember the strange business card he had pocketed earlier. As his computer started up, Akaashi stretched out on the couch, noticing the raised gold ink of the card -- he had sworn it had been black -- on the card, noting the phone number. It wasn’t nearby but it didn’t surprise him -- they were likely an out-of-area company that was trying to expand.

 

“Couldn’t hurt,” Akaashi murmured as he fished his phone out of his bag and pulled open the keypad, pressing the touchscreen to dial the number in. After the first ring, the other end appeared to pick up, a rather whimsical sort of chiming playing as what sounded to be similar to hold music. He could pick up on windchimes ringing, and it all was very relaxing to the student.

 

“ _Please hold while we reach the next available consultant._ ” the line spoke gently in a voice that didn’t entirely sound human right away. It was almost automated sounding, but not quite. It was more like one of those strange voices you hear that you can’t get out of your head. Unnatural, but still a genuine sounding voice. The sound of which both relaxed and unnerved Akaashi as he listened to it, mixed with the delicate hum of the music.

 

It was only when he started to feel as if he were about to fall asleep that he heard a crackle and a voice pick up. It was an effeminate voice, but he couldn’t place initially the gender of the individual. “Thank you for holding, we’re glad you decided to reach out to us. Your date of birth please?”

 

He hadn’t expected it to seem like it was a hotline, and Akaashi quickly stammered to life, surprised that someone was actually speaking to him. “Uh, uh December 5th.” he said quickly before hastily adding the year. “This isn’t going to be a charged service, is it?” Akaashi added, suddenly realizing he might need to get his credit card out or hang up.

 

The person on the other line laughed reassuringly. “Everyone gets one free consultation, usually that’s all they need.” Akaashi assumed the individual was a woman. “Right, so December 5th, that will make you a Sagittarius, correct? Do you know your time of birth?”

 

Akaasahi lay upon the couch momentarily, a little intrigued by that question before he spoke up: “Four thirty-eight in the afternoon.” he said after trying to recall the time. “Ah, is this a psychic hotline?”

 

“Not necessarily. You can call it that if you want to, but it’s more along the lines of a reassurance service.”

 

“Reassurance service?” Akaashi asked, sitting upright. “That doesn’t really answer what sort of line this is.”

“Think of it as something similar to one of those self-help lines for mental illness, but our aim is to give peace of mind on a spiritual level instead.”

 

“. . .So it’s a psychic hotline.”

 

“If that’s what you want to see it as, if it helps.”

 

For several minutes longer, Akaashi sat on the phone answering a few oddly specific questions, feeling almost as if he were being interviewed for a job. But yet not quite. It almost felt as if he were playing some sort of game with girls during junior high where they would try and get him to say he might like one of them, but when in reality it was nothing of the sort. Bleary eyed and blinking, Akaashi just nodded as he heard the person on the line cheerfully announce that the questionnaire was complete and he should be receiving a result in the next day or so. Reality smacked him in the face as he comprehended what he was listening to again.

 

“I-I’m sorry, but you’re sure I’m not paying for anything? This all seems. . .pretty surreal to me?” The voice on the other end of the line laughed pleasantly before speaking again.

 

“Don’t worry, Akaashi Keiji, you won’t have to pay anything, we think we know what you need.”

 

And then, with a slight chime -- the other end clicked and the call was over, leaving Akaashi dumbfoundedly holding the phone to his ear.

 

He was pretty sure he just got scammed. He had sworn he was smarter than this.

  
  


Although Akaashi Keiji considered himself somewhere upon the aromantic spectrum, he hardly considered himself to be asexual as well. In fact, he saw himself as having quite the strong libido. So it was never really a surprise for him when he found himself having dirty dreams in the middle of the night, and he’d be left wide awake for a while, feeling as if there was something he needed to take care of. From time to time he would go ahead and handle his business but other times he would simply try to sleep again, knowing it would be gone by morning.

 

But for some reason, as Akaashi lay awake in bed, contending with being half-mast, he couldn’t bring himself to do away with his problem or return to sleep. He was wide awake and found himself growing more and more restless. He certainly hadn’t slept enough, he knew that for sure given he’d only gone to sleep a few hours prior and still had several more to go before his alarm went off for class the next day. Lazily he scanned his phone, noticing a few other requests for his notes from classmates, earning him another few thousand yen. It didn’t seem all that interesting, his phone that is, but it was something to do until he decided to go to sleep.

 

But he was antsy. He couldn’t get comfortable. He considered a shower, aiming to use the heat to relax him before going to sleep but it seemed so useless. He sat upright, combing his fingers through his hair as he started over at the dim, pulsing light of his laptop in sleep mode sitting on the coffee table which had been slid aside for Akaashi to lay out the futon. It was the only light in the room aside for the faint glow from beneath the door to the hallway of the apartment complex. Somehow it had caught his attention and his eyes were transfixed on the thread of gold light between the rubber of the door, and the carpeted floor. It wasn’t until he heard a soft knocking that he realized that the sound had been what he had been drawn to.

 

Yawning, Akaashi contemplated just ignoring the sound but he realized it may have been just what he needed to get himself up and out of bed to move around before eventually falling asleep. He wasn’t exactly dressed to deal with a landlord or a classmate, shifting around in loose boxer shorts and a white tee shirt. Thankfully he’d softened out by now, much to his approval, as he slipped off the raised futon to get the door. The clock on his microwaved glowed with citrus green numbers showing a bit past two in the morning. He’d barely slept three hours and he was tired. Incredibly so.

 

His eyes squinted as they adjusted to the warm, yellowish light of the hallway, only to note that the yellow was slowly becoming crisper -- nearly white and blue in hue, perhaps as if someone had put colored lights in the ceiling instead. “Who’zzit?” he grumbled, voice groggy as he shielded one eye, rubbing at them sleepily. “Y’know it’s two AM right. . .? Can it wait til morning?”

 

It was becoming rather difficult for Akaashi to adjust to the light which had balanced out into a cool white glow compared to the typically yellow light. “Oh, and I came all this way tonight because I was excited to meet you…” the visitor spoke, his voice soft, almost lyrical and altogether quite pleasant to listen to. Squinting, Akaashi finally allowed himself to adjust his vision to the appearance of the visitor. He was dressed in two of three parts of a white, three piece suit -- the blazer was the part excluded, fortunately. A cleanly pressed vest remained clasped shut over his chest, enclosing a periwinkle blue button down, and a silver shaded tie bearing a small crest at its knot. Gazing just slightly upward, Akaashi met the gaze of the individual: he bore a gentle smile that seemed to be hiding a suggestion of deviant behavior, but the way his iridescent, silver-blue eyes shone indicated that his nature was only that of good intentions. His dark, mahogany hair swooped past those eyes, curling into the faintest of flips where a small, star shaped charm remained clipped among the strands.

 

There was something of a flutter in Akaashi’s chest as the smile grew brighter, flashing immaculate, white teeth pleasantly as he seemed to politely ask for entrance inside. In a way, Akaashi felt this strange spark inside of himself, as if he were expecting company that night (did he ever expect company?) and furthermore. . .that he knew this individual already. “Oh, yes, come in.” Akaashi said softly, stepping to the side to let the young man enter the apartment. As he strode, there appeared to be an almost ethereal glow trailing from him as he walked past -- shimmering and glittering with each movement.

 

He was practically otherworldly.

 

“I didn’t realize I was arriving at such a terrible hour.” the guest said as he looked around the cluttered apartment, seeming a bit dissatisfied at the mess and lack of seating but instead turned to face Akaashi with another pleasant glow to his smile. “But it doesn’t matter. You called, and I’m here.”

 

Feeling heat rush to his cheeks, suddenly embarrassed by the clutter, Akaashi began to pick up laundry from the floor, discarding the articles into a hamper by his bathroom. “I-I’m sorry, it’s dirty in here, oh--  “ he stopped as he looked up at the ceiling suddenly making the connection that he hadn’t actually turned a light on. “I should put the lights on.” As words slipped away from him, Akaashi noticed that there was light on in the room, but it all came from the visitor. “Uh, wait -- who are you?”

 

In his sleep-stirred state, Akaashi hadn’t made the connection just yet that he did not know the person whom had intruded into his apartment. It was only in that second that the typically level headed Akaashi Keiji realized he’d just allowed a complete stranger enter his home -- just because he was attractive. How humiliating. The guest laughed a bit though, seeming to be rather endeared by Akaashi’s sudden embarrassment. “My name is Oikawa Tooru, of course you can call me whichever name you like. Or perhaps something else?” Slipping his rather lovely, slim fingers into the small breast pocket, he plucked a small business card from within, offering it to Akaashi.

 

When Akaashi reached out to take the card from the individual, before it even left the others hands, a surge rushed through him.

 

Everything came to life inside of Akaashi’s being in such a way that he could only describe as his heart was in full bloom. It was as if the four sections of his heart had transformed into petals, and each petal had unfurled, releasing the most beautiful and blissful explosions within him. All at once, it seemed as if warm, liquid lightning had rushed through him, like a dam breaking to release the most euphoric of sensations. His hand rose to his chest, clutching at the white cotton of his tee shirt as his entire body began to tingle, and his blood began to pump faster, the petals of his heart peeling away and flutter through him. Staring up at the individual, Akaashi’s lips parted, as he sucked in a sharp, overwhelmed breath as he tried to comprehend just what it was that was surging through him.

 

“Who are you -- ?” he asked again, staring down at the card which had the familiar “For a Good Time Call” scrawled in gold leaf on the card with the name of the visitor beneath it. Akaashi stepped forward, bewildered but his entire being alive with the most radiant, exquisite and partly horrifying feeling. “And why --”

 

“My name is Oikawa Tooru, Akaashi Keiji --” he said sweetly, as he reached toward the student, his fingers delicately guiding his chin upwards so they were locked in a moment of temporary eye contact, leaving Akaashi a bit astonished. Not even a second passed before his lips pressed warmly to Akaashi’s, offering the most tender of embraces to the boy, causing him to stiffen briefly before finding it incredibly tempting to reciprocate. Lips parted and enticed by the stranger’s sudden affection, Akaashi returned the spontaneous kiss only to be left stunned as he pulled away.

 

Oikawa’s arm had slipped around Akaashi’s waist, holding him for a moment. Weariness began to trickle over Akaashi, suddenly stricken with exhaustion all over again (just. . .what had this guy done to him?). He grew dizzy with sleep and his weight sagged upon the other visitor, but not before hearing the strangest phrase he ever had the opportunity to understand.

 

“I am your Soulmate for Hire.”

 


End file.
